Father David Gentry-Akin

Overview

Department: 
School of Liberal Arts » Theology and Religious Studies
SMC Email Address: 
dgentry@stmarys-ca.edu
Contact Information: 

Office
Dante Hall - 327

Contact:
Phone: 4790
Email: dgentry@stmarys-ca.edu
Mail: 1928 Saint Mary's Road, PMB 3058, Moraga, CA 94575-2715

Education

Professional Experience

Teaching Experience:

  • Associate Professor - St. Mary’s College of California (2001 - Present)
  • Assistant Professor - St. Mary’s College of California (1999 - 2001)
  • Core Faculty Member - St. Mary’s College of California Moraga, California (1995 - 1996)
    Critical Perspectives Department
  • Instructor - University of London—Birkbeck College, London, UK (1992 - 1993)
    Courses in Ecological Spirituality, the Medieval Mystics, and Christian Ethics
  • Instructor - Holy Names College, Oakland, California (1987 - 1990)
    Introduction to Creation Spirituality

Other Experience:

  • Department of Portfolio Evaluation - St. Mary’s College of California (1994 - Present)
    Duties included developing Competency Descriptions for essay topics in Religious Studies, advising students writing in this area on the development of their essays, and evaluating the essays to determine their credit worthiness.

Courses Taught

Recently Taught:

Service

College Service:

  • Invited Member, Dean Selection Process Committee
    (2003 - 2004)
  • Chair, Graduate Policies Committee
    (2002 - 2004)
  • Strategic Planning Committee
    (2000 - 2001)
  • Academic Senate
    (1999 - 2001)
  • Member, Lasallian Task Force
    (1998 - 1999)
    Fall 1998-Spring 1999
  • Invited Member, Dean Search Committee
    Fall 2004
  • Founding Member, Cummins Institute for Catholic Thought
    Spring 2003
  • Invited Member and Appointed Chair, Campus Ministry Search Committee
    Spring-Summer 2000
  • Invited Member, Law Studies Program Faculty Search Committee
    Spring 2000
  • Chair, CP Curriculum Committee
    Spring and Summer 1999

Local Church and Community:

  • Cathedral Parish of Saint Mary's-Saint Francis De Sales, Diocese of Oakland
    (1999 - Present)
  • Proclaiming the Word of God: A Workshop for Lectors

Professional Affiliations:

Service to the Academy:

Presentations

Selected Presentations

  • Walking in the Footsteps of the Early Christians: Reflecting on the Normativity of History for Theology. Gentry-Akin, David (paper)
    Leuven Encounters in Systematic Theology VIII, Catholic University of Leuven
    (October 2011)
  • The Use of Mediations in Theology: A Celebration of the Work of Georges De Schrijver, SJ.. Gentry-Akin, David (talk, speech or lecture, primary presenter, panel or forum member)
    Leuven, Belgium: Catholic University of Louvain,
    (April 2001)
  • The God In Whom We Live and Move and Have Our Being: Dialectical Theism as Orthodox Christian Theology. Gentry-Akin, David (talk, speech or lecture, paper)
    Villanova, Pennsylvania: College Theology Society
    (May 2000)
  • Sex, Lies and Global Economics. Gentry-Akin, David (talk, speech or lecture)
    Boston, Massachusetts: American Academy of Religion
    (November 1999)
  • Rekindling the Light: The Erosion of Catholic Identity in Catholic Colleges and Universities. Gentry-Akin, David (paper)
    De Pere, Wisconsin: College Theology Society
    (May 1999)
  • How Faculty Learn: Faculty Development Through Interdisciplinary Curriculum Design. Gentry-Akin, David (panel or forum member)
    Chicago, Illinois: Association of Graduate Liberal Studies Programs
    Panelist on panel examining how faculty grows through collaboration on curriculum design in interdisciplinary programs.
    (October 1998)

Lectures

  • “Ecofeminism”.. Gentry-Akin, David (talk, speech or lecture, other-lecture)
    Lecture given for Professor Stephen Woolpert’s Jan Term course on Religion, Ethics, and Politics.
    (January 2003)

Paper

  • Does Monotheism Have to be Monotonous? Friedrich Nietzsche on Unity and Plurality. Gentry-Akin, David (paper)
    San Diego, California: College Theology Society
    (May 1997)
  • Iron John or John Ironing?: A Pro-Feminist Theological Critique of the Men’s Movement. Gentry-Akin, David (paper)
    Notre Dame, Indiana: College Theology Society,
    (May 1994)
  • A God Who Could Dance: A Nietzschean Perspective on Religion and the Body. Gentry-Akin, David (paper)
    Moraga, California: College Theology Society
    (May 1993)

Publications

Honors, Awards & Grants

Awards: 
  • Faculty Scholarship at Katholieke Universiteit te Leuven for completion of dissertation - (1996)
    (1995-96)
  • Named “Outstanding Undergraduate Student” - University of Houston (1979)
Grants: 
  • Charles E. Merrill Scholarship, University of Notre Dame - (1984)
    (1981-1984)

Interests

Scholarly Interests: 

Interests

  • Theology and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition
    In recent years, I have become particularly interested in how to foster and promote the Catholic identity of our our Catholic colleges and universities. It is imperative that these institutions—founded and developed as a result of the incredible personal sacrifice of generations of committed Brothers, Sisters, lay colleagues, and priests—not succumb to pressures of a mindless slavery to relativism and secularization. How do we find ways of engaging faculty and students in the Catholic intellectual tradition? How do we acquaint them with the beauty, wisdom, and vitality of the Catholic tradition? How do we make sure that the Catholic project that seeks the integration of faith and reason continues to animate these institutions?